


A Melody of Fury

by MS_Hikari



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Keyblade Wielders (Kingdom Hearts), Keyblades (Kingdom Hearts), just let her do cool things dammit, kairi is very angry, melody of memory final boss made me sad, seriously how many times is the spotlight going to be taken away from kairi, so you're getting a retelling fic, xehanort is still an asshole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:28:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28577511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MS_Hikari/pseuds/MS_Hikari
Summary: (Retelling of the final boss fight for Melody of Memory. Spoilers)(DISCLAIMER: I haven't played Re:Mind yet so there will probably be a couple inconsistencies that stick out like a sore thumb)Kairi didn’t care. Didn’t care about the warnings, didn’t care what would happen if she battled him. She lunged at him, grip tightening on the Keyblade she had been gifted with, letting out something akin to a war cry. Even if this was just a memory or illusion, she couldn’t---wouldn’t---let this thing leave.He needed to pay.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	A Melody of Fury

**Author's Note:**

> So...
> 
> I got Melody of Memory for Christmas. And uh...  
> it was bad.
> 
> Not the gameplay. The gameplay was really fun, and it's basically the first time I've ever played a rhythm game. The problem was in the storyline.
> 
> Most of the game's story is just an insanely condensed retelling of the entire series, which is fine, except...this wasn't really marketed to new players? From what I've seen MoM wasn't intended as a game to bring new fans into the series (and even if it was a rhythm game would be a really fucking weird method), not to mention we got 'The Story So Far' collection a couple years back.
> 
> And then the final boss fight happens, and in the supposed Kairi game, you only get to play as Kairi twice, and then when you actually get to fight someone Sora needs to save her AGAIN even though they don't even know where he IS and Kairi is once again reduced to a token damsel in distress girl.
> 
> Is Nomura just gifted with the ability to do female characters dirty despite the fact they had everything going for them or what
> 
> So here's a retelling fic I made because I was very angry, in which I tone down the exposition and Kairi actually gets to do things.
> 
> the exposition was another thing, it's almost comical how awkward it is while Xehanort is re-explaining to Kairi 'in the end you were destroyed at my hands' like
> 
> yes dude
> 
> i think Kairi remembers the fact that you killed her

Kairi took one last look at the petal, almost resembling that of a glowing crystal. Emitting a harsh, bright light, it dissipated into the nothingness.

...How strange.

Kairi didn’t know why she ended up here. Why this delve into the memories of someone long lost would take her to this world. This world of nothingness, miles of clouds and blue skies and reflections in a still ocean for as long as the eye could see.

It felt...peaceful.

That peace was soon interrupted, however. Kairi felt it. Some sort of...presence. Like it didn’t belong. Like someone was…

She turned around, her suspicions confirmed.

_...That cloak._

That sickeningly familiar cloak. 

“Who are you? Show your face!” Kairi didn’t even hesitate to state her demand.

Indifferent, the figure raised its hands to the hood and slipped it off.

Kairi didn’t know what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this.

Letting out a little gasp of surprise, Kairi didn’t falter to summon her weapon, ready to face the amber-eyed man. 

However, with a gesture of his hand, Xehanort stopped her.

“Not so fast, my dear,” he began, with that same horrid tone, that reeking of malice.

Kairi didn’t care. Didn’t care about the warnings, didn’t care what would happen if she battled him. She lunged at him, grip tightening on the Keyblade she had been gifted with, letting out something akin to a war cry. Even if this was just a memory or illusion, she couldn’t--- _wouldn’t-_ \--let this thing leave.

He needed to pay.

He dodged, ripples of the clear water dancing around his feet as he did. Kairi didn’t even pause for breath, immediately launching a Firaga at him as he flew like a bullet away from her, yet again dodging the attack.

She followed, legs feeling like they were going to collapse from the stress but she didn’t care. She swiped, again and again and again, keeping up with his ungodly pace but she never succeeded in her goal. He remained untouched.

Xehanort stopped and quickly as he began, sneering at her as she continued to charge, beckoning her, mocking her. 

She wasn’t going to trap herself, make a move that would have her fail yet again. He didn’t deserve to see that.

Instead, she jumped. Jumping over him, landing a couple feet away, before whirling around to get him from behind. Shockingly, he actually seemed surprised by this move.

Xehanort, this master of manipulation who was always one step ahead of what everyone believed, caught off guard by the move of a rookie. In any other instance, Kairi would have felt proud, but right now only one thing remained on her mind.

Defeat him.

Unfortunately, things didn’t last that way for long.

Despite her speed, Xehanort was able to take ahold of the tip of her Keyblade perfectly, jerking it down and away from him. Instincts kicked in, and Kairi began struggling. 

Xehanort lifted the Keyblade up in the air, pulling the girl with it and leaving Kairi dangling, still fighting against the surprising strength Xehanort possessed. Xehanort smirked.

“”You’ve become quite the Keyblade wielder,” he continued. “For a retired Master, Yen Sid prepared you remarkably well.”

For the first time, Xehanort was right. Yen Sid had prepared her well. And now it was time to show him how well the former Master had prepared her.

Kairi let go of the Keyblade, landing back onto the clear glass ocean, un-summoning and

re-summoning Destiny’s Embrace right to her. She swiped at him again, just as he launched himself back up in the air. Kairi followed, unwavering.

And then it happened again. Somehow, she made a mistake, and the Keyblade was snatched by him once again.

“This world was created from the memories contained within your heart,” Xehanort stated, looking like he was reading Kairi’s very mind. “You seek clues to Sora’s whereabouts by using your memories of him to search through your own heart.”

_...How did he figure that out?_

“But there’s nothing for you to find here. I’m afraid the answer you seek lie in memories that are long gone.”

Xehanort jolted the Keyblade aside, causing Kairi to be thrown about like a ragdoll. The process repeated again, un-summoning and re-summoning the Keyblade, as both flew back down to the reflective floor.

“I have had _enough of this!_ ” the exclamation was flooded with an anger and sadness Kairi never thought she had heard from herself.

She ran at him, the water rushing against her boots as she charged at what felt like lightspeed towards the man who caused everything. At this point she didn’t care that he might not be real, justice was the only thing clouding her mind. 

She needed revenge.

In a brilliant flash of light, Xehanort summoned the very Keyblade he had previously used to take Kairi’s life, and the two Keyblades clashed against each other. Kairi tried pushing it away, with every fiber of strength she could muster, every cell screaming in her body to avenge Sora, and the others---

But it wasn’t enough.

Xehanort shoved her away, with such force that she was flung multiple feet away, being thrown against the water, her grip on Destiny’s Embrace being lost. It once again was un-summoned, leaving Kairi defenseless, a messy heap on the floor.

Slowly, Xehanort approached her, ever so slowly, clutching the mysterious Keyblade firmly. He wanted her to know what her fate was. 

Raising the Keyblade in the air, the man let out a chuckle, that of knowing. Knowing what he was about to do, knowing that he would be victorious in the fight within memories.

The Keyblade lunged down.

And it was _stopped._

It was almost as if her body was moving on its own---her arm was raised, Destiny’s Embrace held tightly in her hand. 

Somehow.

Somehow, her will hadn’t been broken.

_Not today, Xehanort. Not today._

Kairi took the brief second Xehanort’s guard was broken down from the shock and shoved him away, practically jumping back up and gripping her recovered Keyblade tightly.

She was tired. She was sick. She was sick of how it always went. Always being shoved to the sidelines, always being treated as though she was made of glass. Always being told she was never strong enough, that she needed to continue her training until she could go with Sora and Riku. She was tired of never being able to help, always being shoved away or taken and left as someone who needed saving.

She wanted to be the savior this time.

She wanted to be a fighter.

The battle continued on, Kairi instead taking considerably more grace and care in her actions. Kairi still may have been inexperienced in many things, but through this dive through memories, there was one thing she had mastered: rhythm. Rhythm of movement, rhythm of attacks, rhythm of a battle. She couldn’t be charging in recklessly anymore, she needed care, she needed precision.

She took to copying Xehanort’s actions. She moved when he moved, she attacked when he did, any spell he summoned was immediately countered by one of her own. Teleportation was a key factor, she never truly knew where he would appear---but she always, _always,_ took cues once he did, and always, _always_ , managed to avert his attack.

At this point, Xehanort had given up on the psychological torment he had previously turned to. He was no longer taunting or mocking Kairi, he didn’t have time for that anymore. He was vicious, merciless, attacking with everything he had, a burning flame in his eyes that refused to be put out.

And then, Kairi struck him.

Kairi managed to strike him.

Everything stood still almost immediately. The amber-eyed man let out a grunt of pain, stumbling backwards, clutching at his chest at the exact point Kairi had hit him. His Keyblade disappeared into the void.

...She had really done it.

Because, at the end of the day, this was still a figment, of her own imagination, own memories. 

One strike was enough to finish what was started.

She didn’t hesitate to speak.

“Give me the answer.”

Xehanort let out a grunt again, but it was clear there was no use in fighting anymore. Crossing his arms behind his back, he continued.

“On the day I sent you out from your world, do you remember what it is I said to you?”

Kairi thought it over for a moment. She did...she was positive those were memories, real memories. They felt too real.

“...Yeah.”

“...Those words hold the answer you seek.”

Kairi’s eyes narrowed. This part...she hadn’t thought over. This could just be another trick, a mind game. Something to sway her off her path of finding Sora. 

But it was all she had. She still had to give it a shot.

“I may cause you to suffer, but I am a product of your heart. For that reason, I shall give you your answer.”

Everything was a blur for a moment. It was like the very fiber of Xehanort---or this ‘memory Xehanort’---was glitching. In his place soon stood Xemnas---and then Ansem---and then the mysterious cloaked figure who had encountered Sora on that day in the cave, so many years ago---and then…

Him.

The man in the lab coat.

“Before, when my heart and body were still united as one, I told you what would happen if we were to fail…” the man in the lab coat started. “‘If you arrive in a world that’s neither of light nor darkness, but somewhere on the other side, your task will be far from easy’...that is the answer I have for you.”

**_What?!_ **

That...that was it? It couldn’t be. More lies, it had to be that, surely---

“You’re lyi---”

Before Kairi could complete her sentence, the man in the lab coat was gone.

Kairi was alone in the emptiness again.

\---

The next thing Kairi knew, she was staring right back up at the ceiling of Radiant Garden’s laboratory. 


End file.
